Posts Tagged ‘Wounded Warriors Restoration Center’

Anyone who served even just weeks in the military is familiar with the adage, “Hurry Up & Wait!”

It’s the military way. You rush to prepare the logistics for your mission and then, well, you wait for the action. You fill out your paperwork and then you realize that your move to another station has been delayed. You hurry to prepare for your deployment to a combat zone. Then wait for your return trip home that can be rescheduled for another wait.

Whoever says that patience is a virtue, has never served in the military. Our military members hurry up and wait everyday.

Worse yet, you could be hurried to a hospital with a life threatening injury and made to wait for months for the disability payments you need to care for your family. These are all real scenarios that are occuring for our military personnel everyday.

For those that return with life-altering wounds such as limb loss; Traumatic Brain Injury; the effects of toxic chemical exposure; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; and other injuries- They find that they are left fighting and waiting for treatments.

Here’s where we identify with hurrying up just to wait a bit longer. Our project and mission are huge. It takes momentum to move towards completion and yet in our spirits, we here at Wounded Warriors – Sons & Daughters of America believe that that both the hurrying up and the waiting are an important part of establishing the Wounded Warriors Restoration Center.

We are not static in our waiting. We are writing grants; talking with organizations; networking; getting the word out locally and nationally; connecting with locals and preparing programming.

Our waiting will not be in vain. Those families that are waiting to attend the Wounded Warriors Restoration Center will be blessed by all the efforts of our staff, volunteers, and the many organizations and private donors that have chosen to support this vital work.

Help us to hurry up by donating towards this worthy cause! Thanks for your prayers and support!

Meet Ronie Kendig, who has turned her passion for wounded warriors and their healing into a stellar book series titled "Discarded Heroes"

Ronie Kendig, who writes self-proclaimed “rapid-fire fiction” has written some amazing books that will really be a help to veterans and their families who are seeking to heal from the aftermath of combat. Kalvin Evans, our program director, has read the first three and highly recommends them to wounded warriors who like to read as a way to process their experiences.

We here at Wounded Warriors – Sons and Daughters of America strongly believe that facilitating a healing journey means that we use whatever high quality tool that comes our way and these books are incredibly insightful and fun to read!

Ronie Kendig has done a stellar job in her “Discarded Heroes” series to tell the stories that need to be told. They will not only help many understand what it is like for those suffering from PTSD, TBI, and other war-related injuries, but they will give hope to those who are experiencing the injuries first-hand.

I was born in 1972. When people in my generation were young, many of us would come inside from play and watch the cartoon,”GI Joe.” The show was a sterilized cartoon depiction of war and the good guys always won and never seemed to be affected by the weaponry, explosions, and destruction that make up the heart and soul of war. It’s easy to see why. Did the good guys ever die? No. Did the bad guys ever bleed? No. Were non-combatants ever in the way? No. Did any of the heroes ever suffer from PTSD? No. One thousand times, No.

Unfortunately, real war is not this clinical. There is real blood. The military member that is wounded either physically or emotionally cannot just jump back up and start fighting in the next episode as if nothing ever happened. At times, we have an improper expectation of our servicemen and women. We expect them to never give up and never surrender. This is one of the reasons that we have a stigma that is associated with PTSD.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Yes, even the name has a stigma attached to it. It’s a disorder not an injury. “GI Joe never had PTSD, and neither should you recruit! Suck it up and get back out there!”

So many of our military who have served honorably fear coming forward with their symptoms of PTSD because they assume that they will be looked down upon and given little room for advancement. We’ve spoken with many who attempted to mask their symptoms even while their lives were falling apart at the seams. Some of these individuals came forward and had to deal with the painful stigma of PTSD.

One former military member, Ron Capps, commented on this phenomenon in Time magazine’s blog recently: ”Here’s the rub. It is entirely honorable to be wounded in the service of one’s country, but Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is seen as breaking under the stress of combat or as a pre-existing condition. Some service members view PTSD as weakness. The services apparently do as well: a blood-and-bone wound, or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), warrants award of the Purple Heart medal; no Purple Heart medal is authorized for PTSD. Importantly, PTSD is caused by some outside influence, not—as in all other mental health illness—something internal. The trauma that brings on PTSD changes the way the brain functions and the physical size of parts of the brain. It is a wound.

We need to allow our wounded combat veterans the time and space that they need to heal from their inner wounds as well as their outer wounds. They need connection. They need healing in their families. They need to learn how to be themselves again. This is all possible especially when we get rid of the stigma and accept the fact that they have been through hell and back and need the time and space to make a full recovery.

NOW YOU KNOW, AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE

Knowing that PTSD is a wound and that it can be treated with hands-on holistic therapies can give hope to many who feel trapped by the stigma of PTSD.

Hope. There are safe places that help facilitate the healing journey and the WW-SAD Restoration Center will be one of them. Not just for the wounded veteran but for the whole family.

Wounded Warriors – SAD organization is excited to partner with Grand Junction’s local VFW 1247 to further serving our wounded servicemen and women with their families. We are so grateful for VFW’s past service and for their continued service to our military who, like them, have served honorably and are in need of restoration.

If you are in the area, please stop by and find out more about how you can help!

We hope to be presenting our mission in many of our area VFW posts. Please, if you are a member of a VFW, contact us at (970) 210-9638. Devorah England djenglandamericaswounded@live.com